Husted will appeal early voting ruling to U.S. Supreme Court

Tuesday

Oct 9, 2012 at 12:01 AMOct 9, 2012 at 5:50 PM

Secretary of State Jon Husted today said he will appeal last week's federal appeals court decision that allowed for in-person early voting on the three days prior to Election Day. "This is an unprecedented intrusion by the federal courts into how states run elections and because of its impact on all 50 states as to who and how elections will be run in America we are asking the (U.S.) Supreme Court to step in and allow Ohioans to run Ohio elections," Husted said.

Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch

Secretary of State Jon Husted today said he will appeal last week’s federal appeals court decision that allowed for in-person early voting on the three days prior to Election Day.

“This is an unprecedented intrusion by the federal courts into how states run elections and because of its impact on all 50 states as to who and how elections will be run in America we are asking the (U.S.) Supreme Court to step in and allow Ohioans to run Ohio elections,” Husted said.

Siding with the Obama campaign and Ohio Democrats, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely backed a U.S. district judge’s prior ruling and said the state cannot prevent county boards from staying open for in-person voting on the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before Election Day. The court left the decision up to individual county elections boards.

“The state has proposed no interest which would justify reducing the opportunity to vote by a considerable segment of the voting population,” the court said.

Republicans voted to end the final three days of in-person early voting for all but those in the active military, arguing that county boards needed the time to get their poll books put together. Democrats sued, arguing that because active military voters and their families could vote on those days, it was unconstitutional to eliminate that opportunity for all other voters.

Republicans countered that military voters, because of their unique circumstances, can be rightfully and legally granted special voting privileges. The court disagreed.

“There is no reason to provide these voters with fewer opportunities to vote than military voters, particularly when there is no evidence that local boards of elections will be unable to cope with more early voters,” the court declared. “While we readily acknowledge the need to provide military voters more time to vote, we see no corresponding justification for giving others less time.”

Democrats estimated that 93,000 Ohioans voted on those final three days in 2008. Studies have shown that Democrats, particularly African-American voters, prefer voting early in person – as opposed to through the mail. This year, all registered Ohio voters were mailed absentee ballot applications.

“This ruling not only doesn’t make legal sense, it doesn’t make practical sense,” Husted said in a written statement. “The court is saying that all voters must be treated the same way under Ohio law, but also grants Ohio’s 88 elections boards the authority to establish 88 different sets of rules. That means that one county may close down voting for the final weekend while a neighboring county may remain open. How any court could consider this a remedy to an equal protection problem is stunning.”

Ohio Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern said there is clear legal precedents in the ruling. “ We’re confident the courts will continue to take the side of voters.”

As of last week, Jefferson, Wayne, Champaign and Harrison counties had already voted to allow early voting during the three days prior to the election.

With some boards already setting hours, Husted said he will consult with the 88 county boards before crafting a directive to set uniform hours for voting on Saturday, Sunday and Monday before Election Day, in case the appeal is not successful.

“The last thing I want to see is a non-uniform system where voters will be treated differently in all 88 counties,” Husted said.

jsiegel@dispatch.com

@phrontpage

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.